On 9th December, Cassie Moore won the 'Recruitment Apprentice of the Year’ award at the REC IRP Awards in London. Cassie has scooped more press coverage with an article in the Recruitment Matters magazine published by the REC (Recruitment & Employment Confederation). Details of the interview are below.

"Congratulations on your win - how has it been?"

The win itself was amazing. It was one of those things that takes a while to sink in, but its got to the point where a lot of people in the industry know who I am now. My LinkedIn requests went a bit crazy after that night.

"What led you to choose an apprenticeship in recruitment?"

I started in 2012 in customer service but I’ve always enjoyed learning, so I moved into a recruitment apprenticeship with ARM. It was well worth a go because not only do you learn how to do the job, you get the Certificate in Recruitment Practice too. I’ve recently been promoted to a full time consultant, so the last four years have been worth it.

"Congratulations - there must have been some happy faces at work after that?"

There were, yes. I showed that an apprenticeship can work and that you can be a valued member of the team regardless of what role you’re in. It was great knowing ARM was with me and made sure I was on the right track.

"How did you make the most of your apprenticeship?"

I decided to start my own desk. I saw an opportunity to grow the business, so now I look after the shipping sector for Hong Kong, Singapore and all of Europe except the UK. It was very difficult to begin with since I don't come from a sales background. But I learned it’s all about relationships. Once I got the hang of that, and getting the idea of how each culture deals with recruitment, you adapt to their demand.

"What makes a good recruiter?"

You need to know your candidates and what processes work best for them. You also need passion for the industry you’re working for - you need to be able to talk about the sector from their perspective, not just from a recruitment point of view. Keeping that relationship strong is so important.

Last year, Cassie was also delighted to find out that The News, Portsmouth had featured an article about the award win in their 15 December edition of the newspaper.

Cassie, who is part of the Marine and Shipping team said, “I am only months away from completing my Apprenticeship, so winning ‘Recruitment Apprentice of the Year’ is the final icing on the cake. Three years ago I couldn't even imagine attending, let alone winning an award at such a high profile event for our industry. I would also like to say well done to all the other entrants who attended – there really has been a huge amount of impressive talent from the recruitment industry involved this evening!”